The experiences of Vincent and Nahaan as American Indian activists defending their tribal and cultural heritage;

The political model of the traditional clan system of native peoples in North America;

The centuries long efforts of the U.S. regime to destroy organic forms of social organization in native communities;

The role of the welfare state in preventing genuine self-determination by America’s Indian peoples;

Why the struggle for American Indian sovereignty necessarily involves a struggle for the self-determination of all peoples held captive by the Washington empire, including White Christians;

The compatibility of native sovereignty and self-determination with the anarchist and secessionist ideas offered by Attack the System;

How the decline of organic and traditional communities as a means of social cohesion and self-managed justice has led to the rise of the police state.

Vince Rinehart is a Tlingit and Taos Pueblo Indian & a tribal nationalist and anarchist. He writes for his own blogs focusing on American Indian pan-tribal secession as well as for Attack the System and The Daily Attack. He is of the Teeyhíttaan clan from Shtax’héen Kwáan and was born and raised in Lingit Aani, Tlingit Country in Southeast Alaska.

Nahaan is a Dakhl’aweidí from the Chilkat river area of the Tlingít tribe of southeast Alaska. He is a child of the Paiute people and a grandchild of the Inupiaq. His inspiration comes from the oratory and culture of his ancestors. He organizes on a volunteer basis to ensure topics such as decolonization and historical truth are emphasized in all forms of his communication. He is a co-founder of old growth alliance, which is a non- profit native activist group based in Seattle. He also co founded and co-hosts Wooshkinaadeiyí Poetry Slam in Juneau, Alaska. he is working to become knowledgeable in all aspects of who he is and where he comes from in order that he can envision where to go.

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5 comments

Listened to this today and enjoyed it. I am struck how our ideas, though coming from totally different cultures, are in many ways very similar. In particular, I was very happy to hear you speak about divisions of humanity and reject universalism. This is where the PC libertarians (who I agree with on many issues) and the ‘Voluntaryists’ go wrong. They are a continuation of the Enlightment and seek to replace today’s ‘propositional nation’ with another proposition which is equally as false.

Thanks…. universalism is the opposite of true diversity, I think. It’s right in line with something I once heard regarding race: “Let’s hump ’till we’re all the same color.” Now I’m not personally against inter-racial sex; people ought to do as they please. But the underlining idea of that statement is to give up our unique cultures and identities in name of some utopia. I’m not really with that.

One of my challenges here is that a lot of people from the left, from just left of center to the hard left, champion Native causes and have won a lot of Natives over. The result of that is joining the coalition that toes the PC line and votes for Obama. That’s not really getting us anywhere. A reassessment of who our allies are is needed. For any lurkers out there, I’m not suggesting we vote Republican and champion the neo-con agenda, but rather reject mainstream American politics. We are neither liberal nor conservative. We are indigenous, sovereign, and are in our 7th century of war against the system. Let’s start acting like it.

Vince, I loved the example of the respected elder along with the community as whole being able to bring a troublemaker in line without the need for the state. I also agree with the sentiment you expressed in comment three: a progressive friend of mine once casually remarked that someday we’ll all be tan; now, I do not disapprove of interracial relationships, but what an unappealing vision! The supposed champions of diversity apparently wouldn’t mind it if all the diverse ethnicities blended into one.